BJ Novak:’ Mindy Kaling used to bully me on situated. She would lie to me’

After starring on the US Office, BJ Novak became equally known as a bestselling author and Mindy Kalings soulmate. Now the actor has invented Hollywoods favourite app. Elizabeth Day fulfils him

This time last year, BJ Novakwas already an acclaimed performer, stand-up comedian and author. He had starred in Hollywood movies( Inglourious Basterds , Saving Mr Banks ) and popular sitcoms( the American version of The Office , The Mindy Project ). His children book had been a New York Times bestseller for several months. His collecting of short narratives had been garlanded with praise. He was the worst kind of high-achiever, in that his achievements were myriad and in different fields. People were calling him a polymath and they werent even being sarcastic. Unlike James Franco, another performer who tried his hand at creative writing only to be roundly derided by the critics, Novak actually seemed to be good at the many things he was doing.

Was he ever worried about being called pretentious? Not pretentious, tells Novak when we meet on a sunny afternoon at Soho House, West Hollywood. For me, it was more[ the worry of] seeming distracted from my main run by a side project I was curiously passionate about. And side projects especially from celebrities dont tend to be successful either, they tend to be distractions.

Still, even all those side projects( and its worth pointing out that he also served as a writer on The Office and executive made The Mindy Project ) werent quite enough to sate Novaks aspirations. He wanted to be a millionaire tech entrepreneur, too. As a little child growing up in Boston, his earliest ambition was to be a real-estate developer. I believe I had some vague awareness of Donald Trump. Like, I want to put my name on buildings, I want to be rich and important and a businessman!

You dont get many Hollywood liberals admitting that Trump used to be their hero, I tell him.

But culturally, hes an icon, counters Novak. I believe a secret aspect of[ his popularity] is how familiar he is. Hes not a crazy human on the street, hes the crazy uncle thats been at your Thanksgiving for 30 fucking years! Hes been there for ever. So I believe people feel safe with him considering how outrageous he is as successful candidates. There is some subliminal comfort with him.

You can make anything into a listing, tells Novak. Although he conceived the app as a sort of advice-sharing mechanism, its actually turned into a medium for structured self-expression If I asked you: Hey, would you write me an essay about your father? its such an enormous ask. If I send you a listing request for memories of your dad from childhood any of us can come up with seven, random, funny memories. And before you know it its very involving.

So, in the spirit of the Li.st, the top five things I learn about BJ Novak in the first 10 minutes of meeting him are 😛 TAGEND

1. He is wearing a lot of clothes. Despite the Californian hot, Novak is dressed in dark jeans, a black T-shirt, a navy-blue blouson jacket and a baseball cap emblazoned with the single letter B. When he takes off this cap at several points during the interview, his hair is slick with sweat. He then sets it back on again.

2. He orders green tea and, when it arrives, studiously ignores the biscuit on the side of the saucer.

3. He wants to run for mayor of Los Angeles. One of his flagship policies would be that everyone would have to refer to the city by its full name and not as LA because its bad branding. Another would be founding a museum of hip-hop in the suburb of Compton.

4. Hes smart. Very smart. He speaks rapidly, nearly nervously, and he throws out notions at a median rate of 35 a minute( approximate guess ).

5. He doesnt smile that much. When he does, you feel like youve done something unexpectedly brilliant.

He fissures a smile. A huge grin that seems to take over the entire lower half of his face.

She would lie to me. She would make up these just out of nowhere purposeless lies that I believed. Like saying that Allison Jones, the casting director of The Office , was also an actress who had been the third leading in Cold Mountain . And so I just thought that.

And there was this director, this older woman who directed a couple of episodes, and Mindy told me I couldnt tell anyone, but Greg Daniels, the prove athlete, used to date this woman in college. And then Greg asked me what I thought of her cut and I lied to Greg and told I thought it was great, because I was nervous to insult his ex-girlfriend, so he didnt stimulate the edits that I wanted.

And subsequently I asked him about it and he was like, What are you talking about? Shes 20 years older than I am, we didnt go to college together! I realised that Mindy just made it up and he violates off, laughing it actually affected my work life!

The people who stop him in the street now fall into two distinct categories. The first are those who say: Love your work( I think you say it to everyone, tells Novak. I think you say that to Russell Crowe, I think you say that to George Saunders, I think it could mean perfectly anything. Love your work! As though theyve been poring over my work .) The other half are excitable parents who come up to him with their children in tow. Generally, children care whether or not you have the book on you, they dont care whether you wrote it.

Novak guess of himself as a writer first and foremost. He has always struck me as someone who has chosen not to be as famous as he could have been, I tell him. I believe I am very proud of being associated with quality things. So if I were massively famous for doing massively beloved things, yeah, that sounds great. I believe the pickiness is genuinely just about I want to be in cool things.

He removes his baseball cap, then smoothes back his hair. His eyes dart left and right, like a magpie looking for shiny things to steal. I can sense his attention straying on to the next believe, the next big idea. So, I say: At 36 youre more than halfway through your allotted biblical time

Biblical time? he jokes, In biblical period, I could live to 860.

But is that something you are aware of? That there are only a finite number of years left in which to achieve the things you want to achieve?

Sure. But why do you ask?

Because its an interview and its my job to come up with the questions.

So, are you asking: is mortality behind my drive?

Yes.

There is a long pause, emphasised by the fact that Novak actually tells: He takes a long pause, pondering the universe and its fate Eventually, he concludes: I dont know. I entail, I dont think so more than anyone else.

Three Things I Notice About BJ Novak As He Leaves The Interview 😛 TAGEND